noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈætɒl/
Received-Pronunciation:/əˈtɒl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈætɔl/
General-American:/ˈætɑl/
General-American:/ˈætoʊl/
General-American:/ˈeɪtɑl/
General-American:/ˈeɪtɔl/
General-American:/əˈtɑl/
rhymes with -ɒl
CMU ARPABET:AE1 T AA2 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:AE1 T AO2 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 3:AH0 T OW1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
an island consisting of a circular coral reef surrounding a lagoon
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Borrowed from Portuguese atol, from Dhivehi އަތޮޅު (atoḷu), possibly from Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞 (*saṃtīṭha), from Sanskrit *संतीर्थ (*saṃtīrtha, “level ford”). The traditional etymology from Persian آبتل (âb-tal, “water-hillock”) is unlikely.
Across languages
Translations
43 source translations are retained for this English entry.
